Guyana

Asia Pacific Santos discovered gas with the Corvus-2 well in the Carnarvon Basin, offshore Western Australia. The well, located in permit WA-45-R, in which Santos has a 100% interest, reached a total depth of 3998 m. It intersected a gross interval of 638 m, one of the largest columns discovered across the North West Shelf. Wireline logging to date has confirmed 245 m of net hydrocarbon pay across the target reservoirs. Total SA and partners ExxonMobil and Oil Search have signed a gas agreement with the government of Papua New Guinea that defines the fiscal framework for the Papua LNG project in the country's Eastern Highlands. The plan involves construction of three 2.7-mtpa LNG trains on the existing PNG-LNG plant site at Caution Bay just west of Port Moresby. Total has 31.1% interest, ExxonMobil has 28.3% interest, and Oil Search has 17.7%.

ExxonMobil’s hot streak of offshore discoveries have sparked investor interest in the Guyana-Suriname basin. How did the company get there, and why do industry representatives feel optimistic about future deepwater prospects in the region? In the 30 years of operations on Suriname’s Tambaredjo field, the prime mechanism for lifting the 15.6 °API crude to surface has been that of progressing cavity pumps (PCPs).

The chief upstream strategist of IHS Markit said in a recent presentation that oil exploration must improve its ability to deliver value and better communicate that value to the financial community. New ways of thinking about exploration opportunities are needed. Total just strengthened its presence in United States deepwater plays through an acquisition from Samson that gives the French company a 12.5% interest in blocks covering the Anchor discovery, one of the most significant recent finds in the Gulf of Mexico. ExxonMobil continues to make major oil discoveries offshore Guyana, a country that today produces no oil. The just-announced Turbot-1 well is the company’s fifth discovery in Guyana’s waters in a little more than 2 years.

ExxonMobil continues to make major oil discoveries offshore Guyana, a country that today produces no oil. The just-announced Turbot-1 well is the company’s fifth discovery in Guyana’s waters in a little more than 2 years. Applying an economic analysis for Trinidad and Tobago's deepwater gas fiscal regime, results were calculated for various price scenarios to identify a workable strategy for development of offshore resources.

Moving their directional drillers into their Houston real-time remote operations centers has improved drilling efficiency for two of the top shale producers. The major’s dominant showing in US Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 252 propelled another rise in bids and dollars for the biannual regionwide auction. Funding for startups in the upstream industry does not always guarantee that oil and gas companies will want to test the new technology. A new venture and accelerator model hopes to change this through guaranteed pilots. The Pluma-1 discovery could turn the southeast portion of Stabroek Block off Guyana "into a major new development area," the company says.

The Italian operator reported positive appraisal and exploration results from wells drilled some 10,000 km apart. UK operator Trident Energy is entering Brazil while Australian firm Karoon Energy is expanding its position in the country. Both will try to boost output from already-producing assets. Findings from Kayrros suggest the average Permian well is both less productive and more expensive than reflected in public data. Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador is prioritizing investment in Pemex over foreign participation as a means to boost the country’s shrinking oil output.

Learn more about training courses being offered. Learn more about training courses being offered. This course covers the fundamental principles concerning how hydraulic fracturing treatments can be used to stimulate oil and gas wells. It includes discussions on how to select wells for stimulation, what controls fracture propagation, fracture width, etc., how to develop data sets, and how to calculate fracture dimensions. The course also covers information concerning fracturing fluids, propping agents, and how to design and pump successful fracturing treatments. Learn more about training courses being offered. Current and future SPE Section and Student Chapter leaders are invited to engage and share. Every attendee leaves energised with a full list of ideas and a support network of fellow leaders. Those sections and student chapters actively participating in this workshop have consistently been recognized with awards as the best in SPE. SPE Cares is a global volunteering drive aimed at promoting, supporting and participating in community services at the SPE section and student chapter’s level. On its official launch this year at ATCE Dubai, SPE Cares will conduct a “Give a Ghaf” Tree Planting Programme to help preserve Ghaf’s cultural and ecological heritage. The Ghaf tree is an indigenous species, specific to UAE, Oman and Saudi Arabia. It is a drought tolerant, evergreen tree that can survive a harsh desert environment. The initiative not only aims to hold events/activities at ATCE, but also recognise community service that SPE members are already conducting in their respective student chapters and professional sections. The KEY Club, open daily, is an exclusive lounge for key SPE members. The lounge is open to those with 25 years or more of continuous membership, Century Club members, current and former SPE Board officers and directors, Honorary and Distinguished Members, as well as this year’s SPE International Award Winners and Distinguished Lecturers. DSATS (SPE’s Drilling Systems Automation Technical Section) will hold a half-day symposium featuring keynote presentations on urban automation. This symposium will explore technologies being used in developing smart cities through the automation of their infrastructure, transportation systems, energy distribution, water systems, street lighting, refuse collection, etc. These efforts rely on many of the same tools needed for drilling systems automation yielding increased efficiencies, lower maintenance and reduced emissions. Their knowledge and experience can guide the path being travelled by the oilfield drilling industry.

The firms are now partners on multiple blocks in the North Argentina Basin. Australia’s BHP Billiton and the recently acquired Anadarko Petroleum submitted the largest dollar totals of high bids in US Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 253. Production from the Hibernia platform was shut down again on 17 August after its second oil spill in a month, while Husky Energy began to ramp up output from the White Rose field following the largest-ever spill off Canada’s easternmost province. The discovery marks London-based Tullow’s first operated contribution to a long list of discoveries since 2015 in the emerging petroleum province. Anchored by the Khaleesi-Mormont and Samurai fields, the King’s Quay FPS will receive and process up to 80,000 B/D of crude oil.

Are Deepwater Projects Due for a Revival? What does the landscape for deep water look like in the near term? Will operators get more involved? Subsea Production Systems—Will 2019 Be a Tipping Point? The past year ended with a surge of subsea tree awards as E&P operators locked in lower supply-chain cost.

Decommissioning and abandonment comes with its share of unexpected surprises, but many of those surprises could be avoided merely through better planning and care. These balls have the potential to alter how pipeline inspections are done, and a consortium of pipeline operators and industry experts in North Dakota is examining just how well this emerging technology can handle the small-diameter pipelines in the area. Scheduled for startup in 2022, the FPSO is expected to produce up to 220,000 BOPD on the development offshore Guyana. Liza is one of eight discoveries ExxonMobil has made in area. The Hess-operated field, which drew first oil in January, is expected to produce 80,000 BOPD as production ramps up this year.